Gascoigne's ex-wife tells of beatings

The ex-wife of England footballer Paul Gascoigne yesterday helped launch a campaign against domestic violence by talking for the first time about the abuse she suffered.

The charity Refuge aims to raise awareness of the secret suffering of many women with a series of television advertisements showing traumatic incidents.

Sheryl Gascoigne, 34, whose divorce from the Middlesbrough player was finalised in February, said that she hoped abused women would realise they were not alone.

In an interview with the Sun Mrs Gascoigne described the years of physical and mental abuse, including an occasion when the player head-butted her because she laughed at another man's joke.

"There's a conspiracy of silence that surrounds domestic violence and that's what makes it so hard to get a grip on reality when it's happening to you," she said. "I honestly thought I was the only woman going through it. And I also felt I was somehow to blame for Paul's behaviour."

The Gleneagles hotel in Scotland, where she and Gascoigne were on holiday was the scene of a particularly vicious attack, she said.

A meal ended with her being thrown around their suite and crashing into the furniture and fittings as she attempted to avoid his drunken anger.

"One minute we were having a nice conversation about Paul's family, the next he had just exploded into uncontrollable anger," she said. She suffered bite marks, marks on her neck where he had tried to strangle her, and two dislocated fingers.

"The Refuge campaign shows people that domestic violence can happen to anyone," Mrs Gascoigne said yesterday. "One in four women experience domestic violence. I hope we can increase awareness and give more help to as many women and children as possible," she said.

According to national crime statistics, every week two women in England and Wales are killed by their partner or ex-partner, and nine times out of 10 a child is in the same or next door room.

The series of adverts will feature a vicar, a policeman and a doctor, asking "which one's the killer?". The answer is that it could be any of them.

They tell the stories of the excuses men use, including one man who throttled his wife and pushed her down the stairs because she was six minutes late with his dinner.

Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, said: "Domestic violence is a serious crime. We want to get this issue on everyone's agenda and increase the help available to women and children as we all move into the new millennium."

People will be given the opportunity to add their voice to the campaign by wearing a Refuge black and white ribbon.